First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 1297 - The Origin of Revenants

The man in the crane cloak and his three companions looked uncertain.

Of late, word of the Temple Master’s reincarnation was spreading like wildfire throughout the stars. There was no way they hadn’t heard about him!

But none of them had anticipated that they’d bump into him here in the Impermeable Demon Ocean!

“We were blind not to have recognized the Temple Master, which led to our earlier rudeness.” The old man in gray took a deep breath. “However, we would never have guessed that the lofty Temple Master would take advantage of our adversity. Anger was unavoidable. We hope you’ll understand.”

Zhuang Bifan was instantly so angry that he laughed. “‘Take advantage of your adversity?’ You’re completely shameless! If he hadn’t intervened, would you still be alive?”

The gray-robed elder was instantly at a loss for words.

Zhuang Bifan said coldly, “Furthermore, that revenant wasn’t Skyfire Spirit Race property. How could hunting it constitute ‘taking advantage of your adversity?’”

He paused, then said coldly, “You’re so domineering even while apologizing. Is your Skyfire Spirit Race just that domineering?”

The gray-robed elder’s expression was unsightly, and he was obviously enraged, but in the end, he suppressed it.

It seemed he couldn’t even be bothered to argue with Zhuang Bifan.

Not far away, Wen Bofu said suddenly, “If you want to live, you’d best cooperate and earnestly repent. Otherwise...”

Before he could finish, the leader, the man in the crane cloak, said plainly, “Senior Wen, we of the Skyfire Spirit Race are no spineless cravens! A little misunderstanding, that’s all. What, don’t tell me we have to kneel and beg for forgiveness?”

Wen Bofu’s brow furrowed; he felt a bit affronted. “So you’re saying my intervention was entirely unnecessary?”

The man in the crane cloak glanced at him and said plainly, “Please don’t be angry, Senior. We appreciate your good intentions, and as I said, this was just a little misunderstanding. I trust that someone as broad-minded as the Temple Master won’t pursue it any further.”

He glanced at Su Yi, perfectly calm. He was obviously fearless.

“A little misunderstanding?” Wen Bofu suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. He couldn’t be bothered to discuss this any further.

Zhuang Bifan’s gaze frosted over too.

The gray-robed elder suddenly interjected. “Your Excellency the Temple Master, this humble one feels the need to warn you that times have changed. Your sword might well have once dominated the stars, but the future belongs to the Transcendents. I urge you to keep a lower profile and avoid bringing disaster upon yourself.”

His tone was calm, and he spoke slowly. “You might find my words grating to the ears, but I’ll speak directly: within three years, the balance of power will change completely! And our Skyfire Spirit Race...”

He’d only just said this when a streak of sword qi exploded into being.

Splurt!

A bloody hole appeared right through the gray-robed elder’s throat.

His eyes widened and his lips quivered as if to speak, but in the end, he couldn’t manage so much as a single word. His body disintegrated with a bang, destroyed completely.

“Truly noisy,” said Su Yi. He shook his head slightly.

Zhuang Bifan said with complete agreement, “He was as irritating as a fly. His death was refreshing.”

Wen Bofu’s eyelids twitched; Su Yi’s lightning-quick strike had startled him.

A Oneness Realm cultivator just killed a Cosmic Enlightenment expert with ease? How could ‘terrifying’ be enough to describe that?

“You...” The man in the crane cloak was instantly enraged. He would never have guessed that Su Yi would attack and kill his companion at the drop of a hat.

Su Yi laughed. “Whoops. A moment’s carelessness, and I killed him by mistake, that’s all. I trust that someone as broad-minded as you won’t pursue it any further.”

Zhuang Bifan burst into laughter. Aih, the Temple Master really hasn’t changed. He still gives an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The man in the crane cloak was visibly enraged. His chest heaved, and his face was ashen.

But then, his surviving companion, the woman in purple, suddenly said, “We admit defeat! Is that enough for you, Temple Master?”

Su Yi turned to look at Zhuang Bifan. “Is that any way to apologize?”

Zhuang Bifan asked with complete seriousness, “How was that an apology? She’s obviously refusing to pay her debts and trying to wriggle her way out of responsibility.”

“Seems that way to me too,” said Su Yi with a nod.

As he spoke, he raised and flicked his finger.

Kcch!

A streak of sword qi shot through the air.

The woman in purple was stunned, and she immediately tried to flee.

But the sword qi suddenly transformed into countless fine wisps of sword light, like overlapping sword shadows. They enveloped the entire stretch of heaven and earth completely.

Including the woman in purple.

In a flash, her body split into countless chunks of flesh, which crumbled to ash and dissipated.

This bloody scene made the man in the crane cloak visibly lose his composure. He felt a chill in his hands and feet, and his heart filled with terror.

He would never have guessed that the Temple Master would dare treat even them so rudely!

“If I beg for mercy, might you leave me a path to life?” the man in the crane cloak couldn’t help but ask.

He was obviously frantic.

Zhuang Bifan couldn’t help but sneer. That all you got? Weren’t you only just saying that members of the Skyfire Spirit Race were no spineless cravens?

Against all expectations, Su Yi nodded. “Very well.”

But before the man in the crane cloak could sigh in relief, Su Yi continued, “Go ahead. Kneel and beg for mercy.”

The man in the crane cloak froze, stunned, then flushed red with shame, anger, and embarrassment. The Temple Master is trying to humiliate me!

He’d only just said, “A little misunderstanding, that’s all. What, don’t tell me we have to kneel and beg for forgiveness?”

But now, the Temple Master wanted him to do exactly that!

Wen Bofu couldn’t help but sigh to himself. It didn’t have to end like this. Didn’t you bring this upon yourselves?

But then, the man in the crane cloak suddenly hissed, “Despite your status, you’re using such methods to humiliate me. Aren’t you afraid of the world’s contempt? Aren’t you afraid the Skyfire Spirit Race will view you with enmity?”

Su Yi raised his hand and smacked the air.

Bang!!

A heart-protecting mirror lit up before the man in the crane cloak, blocking this attack. However, it shattered as a result.

The man in the crane cloak broke out in cold sweats, then turned and fled.

But before he’d gotten far, a streak of sword qi cut him down, dispersing his soul.

In the last moments before his death, his eyes filled with astonishment. How could the Temple Master be so daring? Does he truly not have a concept of fear?

Zhuang Bifan sighed as if he could read the dying man’s mind. “If the Temple Master feared the Skyfire Spirit Race’s reprisal, would he still be the Temple Master?”

Those old-timers who understood the Temple Master knew that he acted as he pleased without concern, and therefore, without fear!

This was the legend who’d proclaimed that even immortals would have to avert their gazes before him. How could he possibly fear others’ threats?

“At the end of the day, they were born in the wrong era. They never witnessed the Temple Master’s methods and magnificence. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared do anything so foolhardy,” sighed Wen Bofu.

“They weren’t stupid. They were just too accustomed to power and smooth sailing; they needed to be taught a lesson,” Su Yi said flatly.

How could Cosmic Enlightenment Realm experts be stupid?

It wasn’t an issue of intelligence. It was just that the experts of the Skyfire Spirit Race were too self-conceited. They thought their illustrious backgrounds meant they could do whatever they pleased. And they were not wrong—out amongst the stars, few dared to provoke them.

Unfortunately, Su Yi was precisely one of those few.

Wei Shan and Meng Changyun had already rushed over to gather the spoils.

Su Yi, meanwhile, was chatting with Wen Bofu.

After arriving in the Impermeable Demon Ocean, he encountered experts of the Zhong Family, the Studio of the Heart, and now the Skyfire Spirit Race.

Now, even Wen Bofu of the Wen Family had shown up. Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising.

Representatives of three of the six Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao had appeared. Each had incomparably deep and ancient foundations, to the point that even the stars’ top sects feared them.

This was the Impermeable Demon Ocean, yet here they were, popping up one after another. Who wouldn’t have found this strange?

Before long, Wen Bofu gave him answers and revealed a startling secret.

“Fellow Daoist, you may not know this yet, but the Impermeable Demon Ocean is an ancient hidden land second only to the Flying Immortal Forbidden Zone. Long ago, during the End of the Dharma, a catastrophe took place here, burying numerous top experts of the Path of Transcendence...”

Some of the fallen Transcendents’ fragmented souls, however, weren’t truly extinguished. Instead of disappearing, they carried on as revenants, neither fully human nor ghost.

These revenants were extremely powerful and terrifying. After countless years, they gradually recovered their awareness and intelligence. By now, aside from their inability to disperse the cursed power filling their bodies, they were no different from true cultivators!

“According to our clan’s ancient records, the cursed power affecting the revenants comes from the same catastrophe that severed the Path of Transcendence. It acts like fetters, making it impossible for them to escape into the outside world. For a long time, they could only lie dormant in inhospitable forbidden grounds like the Impermeable Demon Ocean,” said Wen Bofu.

“However, over the past twenty-or-so years, the situation has changed. The long-dormant revenants have slowly started reawakening and re-entering the world. Those with awareness were peak experts of the Path of Transcendence in life. Upon reawakening, they start planning how to cultivate anew, achieve new life in the modern age, and restart their pursuit of immortality!

“The intelligent revenant we saw earlier placed an altar and used a secret art to confound cultivators to absorb their vitality and cultivation bases. Eventually, this would have let him recover his own vitality and reforge a true body in preparation for escaping the Impermeable Demon Ocean.

“For people like us, capturing these intelligent revenants is like seizing good fortune of the Path of Transcendence. This is because capturing a revenant means you can seize their legacies.

“Take the Skyfire Spirit Race members we met just now. They were after that too,” said Wen Bofu. He couldn’t help but warn, “Fellow Daoist, that man in the crane cloak was called Xu Ruoxing. He was Xu Tiangang’s grandson! And I believe the old-timer has indeed stepped onto the Path of Transcendence!”

Su Yi’s eyes narrowed.

Xu Tiangang.

He was among the strongest peak Cosmic Enlightenment powerhouses of the Skyfire Spirit Race. Long, long ago, he and the Temple Master “discussed the Dao” on three separate occasions.

Although he lost every time, his strength was beyond question.

After all, at the time, the Temple Master had already taken half a step onto the Path of Transcendence. That Xu Tiangang was still a worthy opponent for the Temple Master proved that he was no ordinary man.

So the old-timer’s really stepped onto the Path of Transcendence?

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising.

Here, Su Yi glanced at Wen Bofu. “Why are you only telling me this now?”

Wen Bofu waved his hand hurriedly, with a grimace on his face. “Fellow Daoist, I know you. Even if I’d said it earlier, how could you possibly have concerned yourself with any of that?”